Monthly Archives: March 2017

This is one of our favorite local histories to teach during our Education Outreach program at J.F. Burns Elementary School. In our blog post last week “Teaching With Township Maps” we pointed out how we can help kids to tell their local history through comparing these County Maps.

We like to take them back to 1903, 1944, and finally to a current map. I will point out where their school is located and then ask them to tell me what is currently across the street, Landen Lake. Then I ask them to tell me what is across the street on the earlier township maps. It is so much fun to see their eyes light up when they realize that Landen Lake has not always been there! It was once known as Simpson’s Creek, which we then proceed to ask them to tell us how they think it became a lake. Their answers are always interesting and full of imagination!

This is one amazing example of how the historic maps can be utilized within our community. These records are open and available to the public and our staff would love to help you research properties within the area!

Recently we pointed out a large map cabinet that is located in our reading room. (If you haven’t seen it, be sure to go over and check it out on our Facebook page using this link: Warren County Records Center and Archives FB ) The outside is unassuming and seemingly just another piece of office storage. Contained inside though is a vast collection of the history of Warren County. One of our greatest reference tools for helping patrons and genealogists are the maps contained within our Records Center and Archives reading room.

One of our favorite uses of these township maps is to teach young students how to trace their local history by utilizing the information contained within the maps. We have been able to help these students create a real connection between where their schools and neighborhoods are to what was once there. What they have found are vast changes in the types of jobs that Warren County residents may have had, whether they lived in neighborhoods like we do today, changes in transportation within the county, and how the landscape has changed drastically in just a few short decades.

Creating this connection for patrons and students is always a joy to watch because it provides an understanding of how Warren County became what it is today. These maps also provide a quick reference point for old land records. We have helped people who were looking for old family plots of land or performing house histories to determine where and who owned the land! The maps included in our map cabinet date back to the early 1900’s and include township maps, Ohio railroad maps, cemetery maps, and even some county blue prints.